Date: XX/XX/0784

Time Left: Approximately Seven Years Before Disaster

Location: Hargeon

Natsu's stomach sloshed about with every step he took, the effects of the train ride still with him even ten minutes after getting off the blasted machine. Normally, he wouldn't have taken such a horrifically long trip out to Hargeon by train. As you could probably tell by his palpable hate for all things mobile, he wasn't the biggest fan of long train rides…

However, today was not a normal one! Because, after he was walking home from a rather easy mission, in his opinion, he had overheard some people saying that Salamander had been seen roaming around the port town, Hargeon! Now, Natsu knew that he was given the nickname Salamander a while ago, so at first he thought those people were just talking about him. But that's when he remembered…he wasn't in Hargeon!

Which means, by process of elimination, that if he's not in the place people said he was, then that must mean a different Salamander must be in Hargeon instead! And the only other person that Natsu could think of that could be given such a moniker, was his dad, you know, the Fire Dragon King Igneel, duh!

Which means Igneel was in Hargeon!

Natsu's motion sickness seemed to clear up immediately as he gave himself a wide grin in congratulations. Honestly, he was terrified with how smart he could be at times. He might need to have a talk with Levy about her position as Fairy Tail's resident nerd when he gets back. Because, at least to him, she might have some steep competition to work with.

"Nmnmnmnmnm…" Happy popped out from behind Natsu with a fish in his mouth, "So Natsu, do you really think we'll find Igneel here? I mean, you've been looking for him for about seven years at this point, right? From everything I've seen, the guy's pretty allusive."

Natsu thought about it for a second before putting on his big toothy smile again, "Well Happy, the man's a giant freaking dragon that can breath fire hotter than the sun, it was only a matter of time before a town like this found him."

Happy thought about Natsu's reasoning for a second before giving him a thumbs up, "Aye sir! Sounds logical to me!"

Natsu gave a thumbs up back, "Damn right little buddy! Now, where is that senile dragon I call my father!?"

"Oh my god, it's Salamander!" Natsu and Happy turned their attention to the large crowd of…let's just say yearning young women…all of which were screaming about Salamander this and Salamander that.

Natsu hmphed to himself at the convenience of all those nice young ladies pointing the way to his long lost dragon father, "Speak of the devil…I guess he's over there." Natsu and Happy made their way through the crowd of women as fast as they could. Though, because of the sheer girth of the crowd Natsu couldn't actually see the front where his dad was, "Igneel! Igneel! Woah! Getting a little handsy there lady. Igneel!" Then he finally burst through with a huge smile on his face, "Igneel you scaly bastard, I've missed you so much-!" Only to see a guy with a flamboyant cape and a weird tattoo above his eyebrow instead of a giant fire-breathing dragon, "…you're not Igneel."

The not-Igneel gave a flourish of his cape before giving a well practiced smile, "Hello my good man! I was unaware that I had male supporters amongst the audience, but fret not! All are seen as equal under the radiant light of our lord and savior!"

As he spoke, all of the women swooned hard, asif he had just said the most romantic thing in the world. Though, it only took them a second to notice that Natsu had started walking away with a sad expression on his face, "Damn it! I thought for sure Igneel would be here! My logic was so sound too…oh where did I go wrong!"

Happy spat the fish out of his mouth long enough to add his two cents, "Aye sir! I suspect it's the universe's fault that you met that weirdo instead of Igneel."

Natsu's eyes widened as if he realized something before palming his forehead in annoyance, "Of course, the universe! I freaking hate that guy!" Natsu barely got his frustration out before he was pounced on by a mob of very angry and very…yearning…women.

"Don't let him escape after disrespecting Salamander-senpai in such a way!"

"Quickly, grab his bones!"

"I've got it! I've got one!"

Natsu let out a completely and totally masculine scream before reaching a hand out from under the pile towards his best friend and compatriot, "Happy, Happy help! They're grabbing my bones!"

Happy did a slow once over on the situation Natsu had found himself in before giving an innocent smile to his colleague, the man who practically raised him from infancy, and looking him dead in the eyes as he spoke, "Guess you're screwed!" Natsu felt the pang of betrayal bury itself deep into his heart before releasing another one of the most masculine screams you've ever heard as he was dragged deeper into the maw of women.

Not-Igneel merely gave a chuckle before giving another flourish, "My dears, don't attack the poor man for not understanding the beautiful and all-encompassing message of the one true savior!" Suddenly all of the women forgot about Natsu as they got on their knees and started bowing over and over again to the fake-Salamander, "All hail the one true savior, the one who will purge the world of corruption! All hail Salamander and the message he bears!"

Not-Igneel grabbed Natsu by the scruff of his bag before hoisting him to his feet, all the while the women chanted around them, "No hard feelings, my friend! Please, take the word of our savior as a sign of good will!"

Natsu looked at the black book that was essentially forced into his hands with a quizzical eye. The book was modest in its thickness, though knowing himself, Natsu had no doubt he wouldn't even get halfway through before passing out from the lack of pictures to go along with it. All things considered, it seemed like a completely normal and standard doctrine for a bustling new faith…well normal in every way except for the weird sigil of two hammers formed in a heart-like formation on the front.

Natsu looked at the book, at not-Igneel, back at the book, before gasping in surprise, "Wait, wait, wait! Is this a cult thing!? Are you trying to get me to join a weird cult thing!?"

Fake-Salamander laughed before giving yet another flourish of his cape, "Oh my sweet summer child! Don't you know that every major religion in the world first started off as a measly little cult once upon a time!?"

Natsu didn't know how to react to that statement, luckily Happy absolutely did, "Natsu, run! This man is obviously smarter than you in every conceivable way!"

Natsu turned to Happy with furrowed brows, "Do you think I don't know that Happy!? Don't worry, I've got this…" Before turning back to fake-Salamander with determination burning in his onyx-green eyes, "Alright not-Igneel, if that is your real name! In my left hand, I have my entire life savings." Nats pulled out a large bag of jewels from his backpack and held it out for all to see, "And in my right hand, I hold Happy's life savings." And just like before, Natsu pulled out a large, lightly nibbled, fish from his backpack before displaying it for all to see.

Happy gasped at the sight of his entire life's hard work getting flaunted out for all to see, "Natsu! Don't do it! For the love of god don't do it!"

Though his cries of anguish went unheard by the pink haired mage as he continued, "Now, I give you the choice of either taking one of these or both of these! Though be warned! Depending on your choice, I might send you through that bell at the top of the tower!" Natsu yelled, pointing at a bell tower near the harbor way off in the distance, "Choose wisely!"

Fake-Salamander looked at the large bag of money in Natsu's hand for what seemed like forever…before taking a deep breath and giving yet another freaking flourish of his cape, "My sweet summer child, our lord has no need for riches of any kind! All he asks for is the devotion and preparedness of his disciples for when he inevitably returns! I spread his word to all that may hear it, and who are willing to embrace the love he will bring!" Not-Igneel blew a kiss towards the crowd of chanting women before clicking his heels together and forming a flowing column of flames that carried him through the air, "Red Carpet! For all of my lovely devotees I'm holding a party on my private yacht to celebrate the spreading of our savior's word! Everyone is invited!"

All the women screamed in pure euphoria as their 'Salamander-senpai' flew off towards the harbor. Before running off to no doubt get ready for the fire-mages shindig.

Natsu stuffed both the large bag of money and the large fish into his backpack before taking a look at the black book that was forced upon him. Natsu eventually just shrugged his shoulders before lopping the book back into his bag with the rest of his stuff. Who knows, one day he might actually read the thing…yeah no freaking way that's happening, "Alright Happy, since this little side-adventure was a complete and total waste of our time, I'd say we've earned ourselves a trip to the local diner and-"

"Excuse me?" Natsu immediately turned around to meet…a cheerleader with a whip? Okay…he liked where this was going so far, "I just wanted to thank you. You see, that creep was using a banned form of magic known as Charm magic, and if it wasn't for you distracting me…well I just wanted to thank you for saving me from joining his cult."

Natsu stared blankly at her for a second before he burst out laughing hysterically, Happy joining in soon after he started, "So that's how he was able to outwit me! I should have known that a poser like him would cheat in order to beat me!"

Happy leaned against Natsu's shoulder and took a break from laughing to speak, "Aye sir! No one can outsmart you fair and squarely!"

Meanwhile the blonde girl had to do a double take after witnessing what seemed to be a blue cat speak and sprout wings to fly, "Okay…even in a world filled with strange magic stuff, that's weird…" Though she knew that it was probably best not to question it, "I know! You said you were heading towards the local diner, right? Why don't I treat you for saving me!"

Natsu and Happy stopped their collective laughter after hearing that to turn to one another in order to have a very eloquent and civilized discussion, "Natsu, who's this?"

"Don't know, she's offering to pay for our meals though."

"Huh, that's nice of her…wait, is she a prostitute?"

"Happy! That's very disrespectful! The polite term is lady of the night."

"Oh okay, is she a lady of the night?"

"What makes you think she is?"

"Her outfit, her whip, the fact she wants to pay for our food for seemingly no reason."

"Hmm, all valid reasons. Though, I don't think she is."

"Oh? What makes you think otherwise?"

"Well, firstly, if we're basing this partially off her outfit I think I should point out that I am currently wearing a jacket and vest without a shirt. My abs are just fully out in the open for everyone to gawk at and lick."

"I gawk at your abs a lot, so your point is completely valid."

"Thanks bud, secondly if she's really a lady of the night, why would she be out in the middle of the day? Vampire rules clearly state that it's impossible for something to have 'the night' in their job description and not immediately turn to ash in sunlight."

"I see absolutely no fallacies in your counterargument."

"So we are in agreement then?"

"We are good sir, we will accept her offer to treat us as she is obviously not a lady of the night and therefore, by process of elimination, must simply be a grateful citizen wanting to show her appreciation for all we as Fairy Tail mages have done to help society."

"Indeed, good sir."

"Indeed."

"Indeed."

"Indeed."

"Indeed."

"…indeed."

Natsu spun around before giving his famous toothy grin, "Alright we accept! Lead away nice lady who will almost assuredly go bankrupt to pay for our lunch!"

The nice lady gave a cute smile before doing just that, "Great! My name's Lucy by the way!"

Natus pointed a thumb towards himself, "Natsu Dragneel." And then towards Happy, "Happy."

Happy landed on Natsu's shoulder before throwing a paw up in the air, "Aye sir!"

Lucy couldn't help but smile wider at the display, "It's a pleasure to meet you both!" The trio walked down the path towards the diner for a few minutes, before she asked them something that was on her mind, "Hey what were you two talking about back there after I offered to pay for your meals anyway?"

Natsu just shrug his shoulders at the question, "Oh nothing, something about politics-"

"I'm telling you Natsu, we can't just stand by and allow Alvarez to rebuild their military! You and I both know the first place they'll target is Ishgar!" Happy shouted, as an annoyed Natsu ground his teeth together.

"They just got done fighting a major war, Happy! It's completely normal for nations to rebuild their military after a major conflict. You're just paranoid for nothing." Natsu shot back.

Happy, however, wasn't having it, "Rebuilding the military after a war that they instigated! If we don't want to be wiped off the face of the planet, we need to strike while they're still weak!"

Natsu scoffed at the counterargument, "Oh come on Happy. I've seen the kinds of podcasts you listen to, you've got no legs to stand on when it comes to this. It's just a bunch of conspiracy hogwash."

"Fiore will rise!"

"What!? What does that even mean!?"

Lucy suddenly felt a huge wave of regret hit her as she and the two bickering idiots continued to walk towards the diner together.

Natsu was only on his seventh plate of clam curry when Lucy had stopped staring in disbelief and had instead started talking about…something…

Okay, in all honesty, he couldn't remember a single thing that the novice mage had spoken about. Don't get him wrong, he really tried to pay attention, he really did…but she started talking about super beginner stuff, like how mages, guilds, and magic functioned. Then she started going on and on about the little intricacies of her Celestial Spirit Magic, and if he was going to be completely honest here, he just didn't care at all. That's when the double decker tacos with reaper sauce rolled out…and then they got him his fourth serving of a strawberry chocolate swirl milkshake…and at that point it was all over.

"Wait, a dragon!? You were raised by a freaking dragon!?" Lucy yelled, which would have no doubt grabbed the attention of everyone in the restaurant…if they weren't already hypnotized by the absolute warzone that was being waged on Natsu's side of the table.

Natsu was halfway done with a clam chowder/lobster roll seadish of epic proportions, when he heard her outburst and quickly swallowed his mouthful of food to respond, "Oh Igneel? Yeah, great guy, surprisingly chill for the Fire Dragon King…also surprisingly bad at checkers." Lucy was seemingly having a mental overload as Natsu went back to absolutely destroying the quintuple patty bacon cheeseburger that the wait staff had…okay the staff was essentially sacrificing the food to him at this point.

Happy nibbled a little of the pink flesh off the salmon he had ordered before explaining what Natsu was too preoccupied to discuss, "Aye sir! We thought that weird Salamander guy was him, but nope! After coming all this way too…"

"By train no less!" Natsu spat bits of the bucket worth of raw rice out of his mouth as he spoke, "Seriously! Screw trains!" The pink haired bottomless pit that was Dragneel swallowed the absurd amount of food before looking for his next victim. That's when his eyes settled on the stuffed crust deliciousness that was the family sized meat lovers pizza that a waiter had tried to sneak past him. Natsu almost teleported with how fast he moved, the waiter growing a look of pure terror at the emotionless visage of Natsu's form, "You know what I want…"

The waiter, the brave soul that he was, held the pizza away from Natsu in a desperate attempt to protect it from the man in front of him, "S-sir…thi-this pizza is f-for table five." Natsu's gaze didn't falter for even a second, "Pl-please sir, you-you've already taken so much already!" Silence was the only response he was given, as he slowly handed the cheezy, meaty goodness that was the pizza to the monster in front of him. As soon as the food left his hands, the waiter fell to his knees, then fully to the ground, before silently weeping in the middle of the restaurant.

"Anyway, what were we talking about?" Natsu asked as he swallowed a slice of the pizza not dissimilar to how a pelican would.

Lucy's short circuited brain seemed to fully reboot at the voice of Natsu before she continued, "So your father is a dragon?"

Natsu destroyed another slice, "Yep, like I said, bad at checkers."

Lucy rubbed her temples, "Right…and so you heard that someone called Salamander was in Hargeon and just assumed they were talking about a giant dragon, correct?"

Natsu stopped to pick a stray piece of olive off his slice before devouring it whole like the rest, "I've gone on less."

Lucy felt a migraine forming in her head, "Then you found a large group of women fawning over this Salamander, and thought they were talking about a giant freaking dragon?"

Natsu gobbled the last piece of sausage off the tray before throwing the entire thing overhead, hitting someone on the head in response, "Hey, dragons are awesome! If one just appeared one day in town, you better bet that a crowd of thirsty women would form and that it would be at least a discussion piece at the dinner table!"

Happy, who had successfully nibbled the salmon down to just bone agreed, "Aye sir! It's just such a disappointment that instead of his long lost dragon dad, we instead found a cult leader!"

Natsu stood up and gave a stretch before grabbing his things, "Welp, that being said, thanks for the meal Luce! Though…I think we need to get going before we cause them anymore psychological damage."

Lucy looked over at the form of a busboy being cradled by the chef in a failing attempt to comfort the obviously traumatized man, "I-it was like shoveling appetizers down an elevator shaft!" Before he broke down in tears.

Lucy pursed her lips at the sight before slamming down a large stack of jewels on the table before running out in a rush, "Well…it really was a pleasure to meet you two, but if you'll be excusing me now, I have…non-crazy people to meet up with so…bye!" The door slammed behind her as she finished her sentence.

Natsu shrugged his shoulders at the weird display before he too left the restaurant with Happy in tow, "Well, guess we better be getting back to the guild anyway…"

Happy raised a paw in agreement, "Aye sir! And if we hurry, we might even catch the train before night time!"

Natsu stopped walking for a second before he continued without any visible change to his expression, "On second thought, it's such a beautiful day out, and we rarely ever get this close to the ocean on our missions…"

Happy gave Natsu a knowing look, "We're going on the train Natsu."

Natsu just let his lips stretch as far as they could in a toothless smile as he looked with dead eyes at Happy, "I think I'd legitimately rather kill myself. At least the pain would be over in an instant…you know what-?"

The busy streets of Hargeon were filled for the next ten minutes by a talking blue cat and a suicidal mage arguing to each other on whether or not spending a little less than an hour on a train was worse than suicide…safe to say it hadn't been this strange in the port town for quite some time.

Natsu sighed as he enjoyed the sea breeze and watched the sun set over the dusk of the ocean. Happy, meanwhile, was busy trying to catch himself a snack from the waters below. He was very content with how today had turned out, sure a large amount of women assaulted him, and sure he hadn't found his long lost dragon pops, but on the bright side! He met Lucy, and she seemed like a nice lady…sure a little naive, but she's got her heart in the right place. Also he got to traumatize another local restaurant business! He was pretty sure the score was fifty-three to one in his favor. And even though he still counted Senior Luigi's Baconry Bakery as a loss, let it be known, that it was the same day he had eaten a particularly nasty strand of fire from a lit garbage can, and so he was at an inherent disadvantage throughout that ordeal due to the exploding sphincter that it gave him!

"Did you hear?" Ooh gossip! Natsu leaned over to hear what juicy rumors he could glean from the woman who were just passing by, "Apparently Salamander is holding a party for some of the new followers to his religion on a yacht."

"Yeah! I was invited but you know me, a bit of wine in my system and boats just don't mix." The other woman added, "Though he did say that he'd also put in a good word with the master of Fairy Tail to those who joined the religion."

"You were invited to the party! Lucky!"

Natsu crushed the railing in his hands before the metal started to glow with the heat he was exerting. Natsu was pissed, he could care less if some cult leader wannabe used the name Salamander to pick up some chicks, hell, he didn't even like the moniker! But what he absolutely would not stand, was someone using the name of Fairy Tail in a similar manner. After all, it wasn't just him and his reputation that would be in jeopardy, but the entire guild's reputation, his family's reputation that had the potential to get smeared, "Happy! Get your blue ass up here! We've got a party to crash!"

Happy pulled the fish he had just caught out of his mouth and allowed his wings to pop out of his back, "Aye sir! What's the plan!?"

Natsu slammed a flaming fist into the palm of his other hand as a wicked grin planted itself on his face, "Same as always my friend, I'm going to throw myself into immediate danger and kick the collective asses of everything that even slightly looks like an enemy!"

Happy wrapped his tail around Natsu's waist before soaring across the ocean towards the big vibrant boat in the distance, "Aye sir!"

Lucy wasn't having the best day of her life, it wasn't the worst day, don't get her wrong, but she had to put 'being strapped down to a ritualistic slab in order to be sacrifice to a demon after almost getting drugged by a man who had convinced her that he could get her into the Fairy Tail guild' pretty freaking high on her list of bad days.

The night had been going so well too, she had a few snacks, chatted with some of the other women at the party, was really creeped out after Salamander tried to float wine droplets into her mouth, then she was forcefully tied down to the slab, and…yep that was about it…man this party sucked.

"Don't worry my dear. It will only sting for a second." Salamander's voice spoke up as he entered the lavishly decorated lounge area wearing a completely black robe and the letters E-N-D written on his chest in what appeared to be charcoal. His goons wore similar attire, however, unlike their leader, they had also decided to wear demonic looking masks as they circled around her vulnerable form. Salamander stepped forward before brandishing a twisted and dangerous looking ceremonial knife, "Rejoice my brethren, for as we have filled our ranks with the willing participants of this fine town in order to better serve our lord, and in this endeavor, we have also found the perfect sacrifice to give to our savior."

Lucy struggled against the chains that bound her in a bid to reach her keys around her waist, only for her to realize that the chains that held her were covered in magic suppressing runes, meaning that her struggling was completely useless as even if she got her keys, she wouldn't actually be able to use them. Lucy took a deep breath before giving Salamander the best fake smile she could muster, "Hey Salamander, you don't really want to kill me, right? I'm sure that your savior, whoever he is, wouldn't be happy with my sacrifice. I'm too…sexy…"

Lucy gave a nervous laugh as the crazy eyes of the cult leader and his goons gazed down at her with fervent glee, "On the contrary, what better sacrifice than a mage who has yet to see our lord's light!?" The mad man got uncomfortable close to Lucy's face as he continued, "But you'll see, they'll all see! I was once nothing but a lowly thief! Using my magic to take what I wanted…until my guild kicked me out, laughing as I walked away in shame! Well who's laughing now Titan Nose!? Because Bora of Prominence seems to be the only one after all this time!" With that outburst, Lucy finally realized that this crazed cultist may not actually be from Fairy Tail, and that just maybe he wasn't the Salamander either. The newly revealed Bora slicked back his dark hair before putting on a charming smile, "Now let's begi-!"

Though Bora couldn't finish his thought before the ceiling of the yacht gave out from the force a pink haired mage and talking blue cat that had just exerted onto it, "Alright you Fairy Tail wannabe's show's over! Prepare to have all of your asses…"

Lucy was actually relieved when she saw the familiar pink hair of her liberator, but that relief soon turned into anger when he suddenly clutched his stomach in pain and groaned as he desperately tried to keep the hefty lunch he had eaten a few hours ago down, "Are you kidding me right now!? Natsu please! They're planning on sacrificing me!"

Natsu just gave another groan in pain before turning to Happy, "Happy…get her…outta here…"

Happy gave a big smile in response, "Aye sir!" Before zipping past the many goons that tried catching him, grabbing the key to the shackles from Bora's waist, and flying a now freed Lucy out of there with impressive speed and acrobatics.

Lucy felt a rush of happiness as she was finally free from those crazy cultists, before she remembered that they had left someone behind, "Happy wait! We need to go back for Natsu! We can't leave him there to be killed!"

Happy furrowed his furry brow, "Unfortunately I can only carry one passenger at a time, and Natsu wanted me to save your hide first and foremost." Lucy let her frustration show on her face at the thought of leaving the man that saved her behind for those cultists, but Happy interrupted her thinking as he continued speaking, "Though…I think we have much more pressing issues to worry about…"

Lucy looked at the blue cat in confusion, "What!? What could possibly be more important than saving Natsu!?"

That's when the beautiful white wings on Happy's back disappeared in a puff of smoke, "My magic just ran out…"

Lucy screamed out as Happy and she fell out of the sky into the ocean waters below, "You damn cat!"

The blonde mage fell into the waves with a hearty splash, her vibrant red dress she had worn for the party was almost certainly ruined at this point, but she didn't really care about that right now. Natsu was in mortal danger and was completely helpless on that boat, surely there had to be someone she could summon that would save him. Pulling up her ring of keys, Lucy flipped through them as she held her breath under waves, Happy's tail still tied tightly around her waist as she chose the only person that could actually help bring her and Happy to shore, and also save Natsu…she just really didn't want to call her…

Lucy's eyes filled with resolve as she pulled herself to the top of the waves. Well, it was now or never, "Open, Gate of The Water Bearer: Aquarius!" She plunged her key in the water and turned it, as a bright light appeared from below the ocean waves.

"Ow, ow, ow ow, ow, ow." Natsu was currently being punched and kicked all over his body by the robe wearing hooligans. It was taking everything in his power not to blow chunks all across the boat's floor, but if they kept aiming for his stomach like they were, he wasn't sure he could keep giving them that courtesy.

"Bora, the sacrifice got away. What do we do now?"

Bora scratched the side of his head in thought, "I'm not sure, all of the ladies in the brig are so vehement in supporting the one true savior. It would be such a travesty if we had to use them instead. If only we had some other heretic that we could-" Suddenly, Bora's eyes flashed in realization, and for him to turn around towards Natsu with an unusually large grin that was less-so charming, and more-so sinister, "Well…everyone is seen as equal in the eyes of our lord. Young, old. Man, woman. Strong, weak…it doesn't matter." Natsu felt the assault on his body cease for about a split second, before he was hoisted up by a strand of velvet fire and thrown onto the slab that Lucy was just on. Natsu questioned what was happening to him, but was legitimately caught off guard when Bora leaned in close with a crazed look in his eye and spoke, "Yes…in the eyes of our lord, we are all equal…for we are all kindling for the world he will burn!"

Natsu swallowed the bile in his throat long enough to say, "So…you said you're from Fairy Tail right?"

Bora brandished the same ceremonial knife as before and gave it an almost loving brush across the blade, "So what if I did? It won't matter to you here in a second anyway." Natsu was forced into the same shackles as Lucy before Bora continued, "I was a nobody not too long ago, a nobody who used his magic in the most frivolous of ways, but now? Now I'm something more! Thanks to those demons I was able to see the light! The beautiful light that our lord will bring when he burns away all of sin, and leaves only purity, only compassion, only love! Don't you want a world like that, my sweet summer child!?"

Natsu groaned as his stomach made another knot in pain, "What the hell are you talking about?"

Bora gave a sigh before raising his knife, "Nothing you'd understand, after all…" Natsu caught the look of pure hatred Bora looked at him with, "…you're nothing more than an ignorant sinner."

That's when the boat flew to shore by a tsunami.

Natsu coughed from the mixture of dust and bile that had found itself in his mouth. He gave a quick look around to assess his current situation, only to see that he was buried under the rubble of the yacht. He wasn't entirely sure what had just happened, one moment he was about to be executed to some 'lord' or 'savior' or whatever they had called it, then the boat was flung to the shore by a giant wave.

Natsu had to thank whoever did that for him later on, because now that he was no longer on that godforsaken piece of transportation, he could finally kick some well deserved ass, "Finally!" Natsu cried out as he burst through the rubble with a toothy grin on his face, causing everyone to look at the madman in surprise, "I swear, boats are a hundred times worse than trains!" Natsu gave a few stretches before glaring at Bora with an unseen fire burning in his eyes, "So, you're a member of Fairy Tail, right?"

Bora stumbled to his feet before pointing a finger at the man with a sneer on his face, "My brothers! Kill that man! His heretical blood will do nice to quench our lord's thirst!" With the order, any cultist that could stood up and charged at Natsu with fanatical fury.

Meanwhile Lucy and Happy, who had just washed up on shore not two minutes, watched as Natsu was getting attacked at all angles by mad cultists. And while Lucy was freaking out about Natsu being outnumbered and surrounded, Happy just took a trout out of his bag and started nibbling on it, "Oh yeah Lucy, I forgot to tell you something about Natsu…"

Suddenly Natsu threw off the red coat he had been wearing this entire time to reveal on his right shoulder, the unmistakable guild mark of Fairy Tail, "Because if you really are from my guild, I've never seen your sorry face before in my life!"

Lucy's mouth gaped open in astonishment as Happy just snickered, "…yeah, Natsu's a mage as well."

Natsu took a deep breath and filled his lungs with air, before igniting that air into an inferno of fire, "Fire Dragon's Roar!" A destructive stream of raging fire was expelled from Natsu's mouth at breakneck speeds, any and all cultists that were unfortunate enough to get caught in his line of literal fire were promptly burnt to a crisp and knocked unconscious from the pain.

Bora saw the spell coming, and unlike his fellow followers, decided to avoid it entirely, "Red Carpet!" The spell brought Bora high in the air away from the powerful stream of flame that took out all his men. Ticked off by this turn of events, Bora decided to send out his own spell in retaliation by bringing his hands together and summoning velvet flames from his chest before shooting them forward, "Do I seriously have to do everything myself!? Prominence Typhoon!"

The spiraling column of fire shot towards Natsu in a destructive fashion. The Dragon Slayer mage could hear Lucy yelling at him to look out, but little did she know, fire magic was almost always delicious! Everyone except for Happy watched on in shock and fascination as the velvet flames completely consumed Natsu…only for them to immediately get sucked down his gullet in one fell swoop, "Huh…has a weird aftertaste I'm not a fan of, but it's a lot crispier than some of the other flames out there…I'd give it a solid three and a half stars outta five!" Natsu proclaimed, a large toothy grin finding its way onto his face.

Bora shook his head out of shock before he summoned more flames around his form, a furious frown contorting his face into rage, "You dare defy the will of our lord!? He will burn away your impudent existence in holy fire! Red Shower!" A large rain of small purple orbs of flame pelted down on Natsu as well as the surrounding area, causing mini explosions whenever they connected.

Though Natsu just laughed as he coated his feet in flames and shot himself straight through the spell right up to Bora, "If you're savior is gonna try and burn me with holy fire, I'll just eat it and spit it right back! Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

Natsu slammed a fistful of dragon fire right into Bora's stomach, causing the fire mage to double over in pain, but surprisingly he stood strong against the Dragon Slayer in front of him, "Y-you…you heretic!" Bora pulled out the same knife as before as a last ditch effort before plunging it deep into Natsu's right shoulder, just above his guild mark, causing the pink haired mage to grunt in pain, "Even if I'm beaten here, his word will live on, his message will live on! And no matter how much you try to run from him, no matter how strong you'll be, he'll always be faster, he'll always be stronger! He will win! E.N.D, my master, burn away all the sin! Burn away this broken world! Burn! Burn! Burn! Burn! Bu-!"

"Would you shut the hell up!? Fire Dragon's Crushing Fang!" Natsu, having heard way too much of Bora's annoying voice, filled his hand with destructive flames and swiped them straight into Bora's face. The force of the attack was astronomical, as Bora was sent flying through multiple buildings, across hundreds of feet, directly into the bell tower's bell. The resounding gong of the bell drowned out the pained yell of the crazed cultist almost instantly.

Natsu dropped to the ground and gave a hearty laugh at the level of destruction he had just caused, "Oops! And here I thought that freaky wave was going to take the cake for most property damage this week! Hahaha-ow!" Natsu was cut off as a sharp jolt ran throughout his body. He looked at the source of the pain, and saw the ceremonial knife still dug deep into his shoulder, blood dripping slowly out of the wound. With a grunt, he grabbed the hilt and unlodged it from his shoulder with a tug before melting it with his fire, "Stupid knife…"

Lucy jogged up to Natsu with a number of expressions on her face, but the most present on it was awe, "Natsu that was awesome! You were like, roar! He was like, burn! You were amazing, thank you for saving me! I knew Fairy Tail was full of good mages!"

Natsu gave a soft smile to her, "Of course Luce! Can't have crazy cults sacrifice people on my watch, it'd just look bad for the guild!"

The two laughed a little at that, but were almost immediately interrupted by Happy running past with the fear of god on his face, "Natsu, run! It's the police, they've come to take my fish!"

Natsu looked over Lucy's shoulder and sure enough, just like clockwork, the Rune Knights had shown up to ruin everyone's day. Natsu grabbed Lucy's hand and booked it in the exact opposite direction as fast as he could go, "Oh crap! I can't go back to jail!"

Lucy meanwhile, was struggling to catch up to the scared mage as she was pulled off by him, "Wait Natsu! Where are we going!?"

Suddenly Natsu turned around to face Lucy with a big toothy grin planted on his face, "Well, you said it yourself! Fairy Tail is a place filled to the brim with good mages, and honestly, I think you'd make a fantastic fit!"

Suddenly Natsu's infectious smile made its way to Lucy's face as she started running beside Natsu instead of behind him, "Well then, what are we waiting for!?"

Natsu was so excited, and his body so full of adrenaline, that he had completely forgotten about the stab wound in his shoulder. If only he took the time to look at it a bit longer, he would have seen the black veins that pulsated around the wound. Perhaps if he had remembered to check on it later on, he would have noticed that only after a couple minutes of those pulsating black veins appearing, that they disappeared along with the wound that spawned them…

Date: N/A

Time Left: N/A

Location: N/A

Mard Geer sat in absolute silence on top of the throne of Tartaros, his left hand resting gently, almost sensually, on an old tome with the letters E-N-D written on the front. He had been patiently waiting there for…how long? Surely it had been a few years since he last left this room, after all, it took all his concentration to try and bypass the seals that were placed on his master. It had been four hundred years since he had started on this endeavor, on unsealing the most powerful being to ever exist, on unsealing the most powerful demon to ever walk the face of the planet, on unsealing his god.

…

…

…

He hadn't gotten nearly as far as he had hoped. It seems…the seal's place on the tome was expertly placed. To the point that even after four hundred years of silent seal breaking, he had only managed to pass the first few seals…of over a hundred. Honestly, if Mard Geer didn't know any better, he'd say that whoever had sealed his master away didn't want the most powerful being in history, destined destroyer of the Black Wizard Zeref, to be let loose onto the world…but that was simply preposterous.

…

…

…

This wasn't working. Mard Geer could not spend the next millennia untangling his master from the webs he was forced into. He would if he had too, but he would prefer if he didn't have to. Though…he did owe it to his master, after all, it was he that had shown him the truth of his existence, it was he that showed Mard Geer the path to liberation, and it was he that told him the plan, the only plan that mattered, the plan to burn away all imperfections and leave only purity!

…

…

…

Which is why he had begun looking for alternative ways of releasing him. Unsealing rituals? No. Perhaps astral projection? Nothing. Using the Celestial Spirit realm as a magical battery to bulldoze through the seals? That just got him in trouble with the Celestial Spirit King. It had even gotten to the point, that a few hundred years ago, Mard Geer had constructed an entire temple on an island with the sole purpose of gathering the innate magical energy of the fucking moon to perform a ritual that was capable of breaking even the most unbreakable of unbreakable seals! And!? Nothing…absolutely fucking nothing!

…

…

?

Suddenly, almost instantly, a small stream of smoke appeared at the edge of the tome. If Mard Geer hadn't been so focused on the book of his master, he was sure he would have missed it, so quickly did it appear before disappearing. Mard Geer looked at the tome inquisitively before he decided to check to make sure that it hadn't been a trick of the mind…wait…

Mard Geer's eyes shot open in a feeling he hadn't felt in hundreds of years, pure shock. The seals…they'd cracked. It was barely noticeable, but it was there, within the very webs of magic that held his master prisoner, a small hairline fracture had run through every last seal!

Mard Geer couldn't help but give a sinister smile. The seals weren't broken, not by a long shot, but with this crack, he would be able to pry his way through the seals a thousand times faster than before! He didn't know what had caused this godsend to appear, but he was almost certain that his master had finally heard him calling to him after so long and had gathered enough of his strength to create the fracture.

Mard Geer giggled to himself before bringing the tome close to his lips, "Rest now my lord. You have done more than enough. Rest, and I will take care of everything else. Rest, and soon, you will be free to burn the world anew." Mard Geer placed the tome close to his heart and worked three times harder than he did before to break the seals, and with how his master had been acting recently, it should only be a matter of time before he's free.